New $1,500,000 Eliot Bridge Opens To Mem Drive Traffic Next Week

Two months behind schedule, the Eliot Bridge across the River near the House football fields will open for traffic "sometime next week" according to Benjamin W. Fink, chief engineers of the Metropolitan District Commission.

Actually, the Bridge could have been carrying cars for several days except that the Boston Edison Company has not yet installed lights. On Monday, it will start placing temporary lights, which will be supplanted by permanent ones next spring.

The approach to the Bridge from the Cambridge side is also temporary, However, the Bridge will be opened as early as possible in order to speed the flow of traffic. An official dedication will also take place in the spring and will feature the unveiling of a plaque to the late Charles W. Eliot, Class of 1853, president from 1869 to 1909, for whom the span is named.

The Bridge has other connections with Harvard besides the name. Its brick facing resembles that used in the Houses and its piers will bear gothic E's for Eliot. The middle arch will be 100 feet wide--largest on the Crimson--to give the crews space on the upper river.